A Father's Pain
by DreamingIce
Summary: All Piers wanted was to find the man who had destroyed the life of his youngest daughter. But when he finally found him, it was not what he had expected to find. Character death. On Hold.
1. Prologue, August, 462 HE

**Summary: All Piers wanted was to find the man who had destroyed the life of his youngest daughter. But when he finally found him, it was not what he had expected to find. Character death.**

**A/N: Something that got into my head while listening to overly dramatic music (in the middle of the night to boot), and it would not go away. The prologue is set about 20 months after the end of Lady Knight.**

**A Father's Pain  
****Part 1: Prologue – August, 462 HE**

Baron Piers of Mindelan had always been a calm person. Very few people outside of his immediate family could say that they had seen him lose control over his emotions.

There had, of course, been exceptions, all of which involved his family. And you could see that he had a particular soft spot for his youngest daughter, Keladry.

Which was why was hopping mad right now. He had let Kel go through the training for Knighthood, worrying all the while that something terrible would happen to her, he had seen her knighted at Midwinter nearly 3 years ago. He and Ilane had both wept tears of relief and pride when they received word that she and he companions had returned safely from Scanra; Kel with her newly earned nickname, Protector of the Small.

But nothing could have prepared him for this shock. Piers paced the room more as his wife and daughter looked at him through worried, and in Kel's case, ashamed, eyes.

"I'm sorry, Papa," said Kel in a small voice. "Do you hate me?"

That stopped him in his tracks. His own daughter thought that he hated her. Ilane was already at Kel's side as Piers started to talk.

"Kel, no! We don't hate you, nowhere near!" he said. "A bit disappointed, yes. But never angry, at you at least." He added.

And when I find out who did this to you, Kel, they are going to wish they were dead…

Kel frowned slightly at him, sensing what he was getting at. "I'm just as much to blame though, even…" Kel choked on the words. "Even if I was drunk, we both were." Kel looked at the floor, not even trying to hide the blush of red creeping up her cheeks.

Ilane laid a comforting hand on her daughter's arm. "You know who the father is then?" she asked gently.

"Of course I do! Do really think I'd get pregnant without knowing _that_?" she asked them indigently, knocking her mother's arm away.

"No, Kel, we didn't." said Ilane, who looked worried at the look which was settling into her husband's face.

"Who is the father, Kel?" Piers asked quietly.

Kel just stared at him in horror, she couldn't answer, she just couldn't. She could see perfectly well that if her father found out who the father of her child was, he would well and truly rip shreds off him. She could not betray him.

Kel struggled to regain her composure, and then looked him squarely in the eye. "Do you really need to know Papa?"

Ilane broke in here; she had guessed that Kel wouldn't say anything. "Piers, leave it be, if Kel want's to tell us, she will." The look Kel sent her mother was one of such gratitude that it made Ilane wonder what Kel thought of the baby's father.

Piers sighed, his shoulders drooping, "Fine," He said quietly. "I'll leave you two to talk a bit longer.

He lingered outside the door for a moment, only to hear Kel breakdown into tears. It was in that single moment that Baron Piers of Mindelan made a pact to him self.

He would find the man who did this to Kel, and he would make them pay.

* * *

All Ilane could do was hold her daughter as she cried. She herself was still reeling at the fact that her baby girl was two months pregnant, out of wedlock, with her own child. 

As Kel started to calm down, she started to talk. "Are you sure that you and Papa don't hate me? Goddess knows, _I _hate me right now."

"Never, my darling, surprised is all." Ilane tried to soothe her. "And I'm glad that you didn't tell your father who the baby's father is, I don't fancy trying to keep him from doing something silly."

Kel was silent for a while after this, drawing some comfort from her mother's embrace. "I still love him, Mama," she quietly.

"The baby's father?" her mother questioned.

Kel nodded. "I'd had crush on him for years, the alcohol didn't induce my feelings for him," she sighed. "I just can't believe I was so _stupid!"_ Kel let a few more tears roll down her cheeks before swiping them away.

Ilane looked at Kel, it was then that she realised something. "You didn't tell him you were with child, did you?"

"How could I, Mama? I couldn't even _face_ him after that night, even before I knew," Kel said in a broken voice. "No one at the palace knew, I didn't say anything to anyone, I was too afraid."

"Kel, it's ok. Rest now, you need it." Ilane said, leading Kel to her room.

As Kel entered her room, Ilane felt her heart ache for her daughter, the sadness that had engrained it's self in to her very demeanour was going to take a long time to remove.

* * *

Months passed at Mindelan. The bulge of Kel's abdomen grew more and more pronounced as she spent a lot of her time either in her room, or practicing her archery. When the healer told Kel that she was carrying twins, both girls, she was shocked, to say the least. 

And as Kel felt those twin girls move around in her belly and pondered names for them, her thoughts kept slipping back towards their father. What would he say when, _if_, he found out? Another niggling feeling that she kept getting as the weeks ticked slowly by, told her she herself would not be around to watch her girls grow up.

**A/N: Hmm… my first multi-chapter fic. What do you think? I mean what happens to Kel is probable obvious, but oh well. This will probably only be 3-4 chapters long, unless I'm suddenly struck with inspiration for continuing it. And you'll find out who the father is eventually, so don't stress. **


	2. Birth, February, 463 HE

**A/N: Yes, I'm back! Shock! Blame the Star Wars fandom for my lack of updates, but don't hurt them, I need them still! Thankyou to everyone who kept reviewing, you helped me to get back into writing TP stuff again. :hugs: Thanks for all the positive feedback too! **

**Oh, and just a note, THIS NOT A KN STORY. Sorry if you were hanging out for one, but I simply don't believe in that ship.**

**Disclaimer: If I was Tamora Pierce, you would be paying me a lot of money, as you're not, I think that clears that matter up.**

**A Father's Pain**

**Part 2: Prologue – 7th February, 463 HE**

Something was going to happen soon, you could almost feel the edginess hanging in the air along with the late snows. Piers shifted, trying to shake off the uneasiness he was feeling.

A hand suddenly appearing on his shoulder made him start slightly. Turning around, he saw his wife smirk slightly.

"It's not often I can sneak up on you," she informed him.

He shighed. "I- I'm just... worried."

"About Kel?"

Piers nodded hesitantly.

"So am I," this time it was Ilane's turn to sigh. "The pregnancy has been so hard on her, and the healer hasn't told her this yet, but she thinks that-" Ilane opened her mouth to finish the sentence, but the words stuck in her throat. "That there's a chance... that she won't survive." She stumbled over the last words, tears leaking from her blue-green eyes.

"What!" Piers eyes widened in horror. "When do you find out about this?"

"I was just talking to the healer now, that's why I came to find you," she answered softly.

Wordlessly, Piers took his wife in his arms, and both of them prayed desperately that their daughter be all right.

* * *

Kel wasn't happy. In fact, she now was reviewing every Yamani, Scanran and Common curse she knew and was applying them to the man who had put her in this position. Wasn't easing the pain though. When she'd felt slight cramps in her abdomen, she hadn't thought anything of it, after all, she wasn't due for another six weeks or so yet.

Then those cramps had begun to intensify, and come at regular intervals. She'd then finally admitted she was in labour and found the healer.

That had beeneight hours ago now, and the pain had officially gone off the scale.

Another contraction rippled through her body, and she growled a Yamani curse under her breath as her mother held her hand. Well, no, that's not strictly true. Rather, Ilane was having her right hand pulverised by the death grip her daughter had it in.

"I can't believe you went through this so many times, Mama," Kel panted as the contraction waned.

"Once you see your children, you'll understand why I did," Ilane told her, wiping her forehead down. "And if I didn't, I wouldn't of had you."

"Lady Keladry," the healer, a middle-aged woman by the name of Evanlyn, interrupted. "The first babe's ready to come out, ye need to get ready to push." Kel grimaced.

Another fifteen minutes of intense pain beyond anything Kel had ever imagined, and her first daughter was born. No sooner had Evanlyn's assistant whisked the child away to be bathed, then the remaining baby let it be known that she wanted to join her sister.

But this wasn't going to go as easily. Evanlyn saw it immediately, the child still hadn't turned the right way around. And if it couldn't be turned... the healer's hands shook. She was strong with her gift, she wouldn't be able to save Lady Kel if that child didn't turn.

She tried to turn the babe, but nothing worked.

So another 7 minutes after the birth of Kel's elder twin, the younger twin joined her sister. And they were about to lose their mother.

Ilane's skin was now as white as her hair. What Evanlyn had been so worried about had indeed happened. She was about to lose her daughter, just when said daughter should be learning to joys of motherhood.

Kel's eyes fluttered open as her father snuck in behind the healer and her helper, each of whom were carrying an infant girl.

Evanlyn offered Kel the elder of the twins first, while the younger was handed to Ilane.

Kel looked at the girl she held in her arms, then at the one nestled in Ilane's expert grip. They both had small wisps of dark brown hair covering their heads, and Kel could see that the elder of her daughter at least, had eyes that were in between that of her grandmother's green-blue gaze and her father's blue, and her own nose.

Ilane then let Kel hold the younger girl, while she and Piers took the eldest. This one looked more like the girl father than her sister, expect for the eyes, that looked more like Kel's dreamy hazel ones.

_It's not fair that I can't see them grow._

"They're beautiful, Kel," Piers said, breaking the silence. "Have you decided on any names?"

She nodded weakly. "Kiana and Elesia," she said quietly, gesturing to the eldest and youngest girl respectively. Evanlyn then took over, trying to bolster Kel's failing health.

"Mama, Papa," Kel started, ignoring the healer's efforts, realising that she was dying anyway. "Please take care of them for me. Promise."

Tears were now falling freely from both parents.

"Of course we will," Piers told her in a thick voice.

"Thank you, I love you both," she replied softly. "And you two as well," she said to the twins in an even softer voice. Then she stopped breathing.

In that moment, two infants cried for a loss neither of them understood.

**A/N: Replies from the prologue:**

**Scottish Wish: **Thanks! I'm not going to spill entirely, but let just say I like Yuki, so I won't make her that mad... And I'm no K/N'er.

**FanFictionFantom:** Thanks for reading! But please read the note at the start of the chapter, I don't write K/N.

**Ossini: **:looks sly: Wait and see!

**Darth Tater:** LOL! I know, It's rather obvious... subtlety isn't always my strong point. And besides, the mere thought of KJ generally drives me even crazier than KN. Thanks for reading!

**CherishGrace: **Thankyou! Yes, I know I should continue it, and I never meant to leave this fic behind, but the Star Wars fandom distracted me. :hangs head in shame: I won't abandon it again.

**Menelien: **Thanks! On Kel's parents, I figured that while yes, they _are_ very laid back, the society they lived in was not. That and it's Piers who's more worked up, which can be put down to parental overprotective-ness over a daughter, especially when it's the _youngest_ daughter, when it comes to guys.

**KatYoukai: **Still reviewing my stuff? Let it be said I love loyalty. :grins: Thanks! Suspence is fun to write... although some of the larger bits are relatively obvious. Oh well, I've still got a few tricks up my sleeve for this... :cackles: Sorry about the long hiatus.

**Stabler.Dinozzo.Fan: **... Not Telling! That would be spoiling it.

**Lady Pirate Nancy Kington: **Thanks! No, not Neal. Much as I love him, I don't like him with Kel.

**Queen Tigress: **You'll find out soon...

**Poppy Ewan: **:blushes: Complying... over eight months later... sorry.

**Faithful Haven: **Thankyou!

**zblueice137: **Thankyou, I hope it lives up to expectations!

**sum random:** Very true. Congratulations on helping to kick this procrastinating author back into TP writing. :grins:

**gatermage: **Yes, some things are pretty obvious, but not everything will be quite so obvious... and all I'll say is that the father is NOT Neal. :evil cackle:

**Think you know who the father is now? I'll reveal who it is in the next chapter anyway though. Review people! I love them!**

**Misha**


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